Thread: My new Varminter Sako A1 .222

I have a CZ 455 in .17 HMR which has been fantastic on bunnies but wanted something a bit bigger but not too big so I had to think what to do.

I have a T3 .223 which is a great rifle and has shot a lot of deer but I wanted to keep it as a deer rifle, I have a Sako A1 & L461 both in .222 which I acquired both 9-14 months ago but wanted to keep them in original format and even looked at going down "Wingmans" path of building a .22TCM as that looks like a great wee caliber.

I also looked at .22 Hornet, 22K Hornet, .17 Hornet. .218 Bee but in the end without complicating things and spending a fortune I decided to use the Sako A1 .222

I got the barrel threaded and put on my DPT suppressor but the scope on top wasn't cutting the mustard so I bought in a couple of Vector Optics scopes who were easy to deal with. I bought a Marksman 3.5-10x44 which cost me US$179 and another little 1-5 power scope which currently sits on a .22

The scopes are crystal clear but there 30 mm tubes so I needed some rings. The scopes come with rings however they won't fit Sako's!

A local shop were quoting me $500 to mount the scope but after a quick look through Trade Me I bought a set of Optilokts for $150 and scope is now all mounted.

The rifle was loving 50 gr Hornady SP so I bought a packet each of some 40 & 50 gr Vmax to try out. The 50's shot 1/2-3/4 inch so I settled on those however I still need to do some playing with the 40 gr projectiles before I discard them as an option as it would be great shooting bunnies with them flying at 3300 fps.

So far I've only shot 15-20 bunnies with the longest shot out to 250 metres and running the rifle alongside the .17 HMR has been a lot of fun. It's nice to unload and make safe when moving to a new position where you cycle the bolt and push the live round back into the internal box mag that holds 7 rather than ejecting the magazine, ejecting the live round, placing the live round back into the magazine and then magazine back into the rifle.

go the mighty 222

nice rifle . . . with the Varminter in the title i was expecting to see the heavy barrel varmint model, still always nice to see a mint A1

A great caliber, my Sako Vixen I bought when in the Forest Service was a real beauty, shoot extremely well and accounted for countless goats and a number of deer. I used a Brno Fox 222 for a while set up for rabbit shooting at extended ranges using the 50 gr V Max. Many a time with a got hit there would be a Red mist and the rabbit was turned inside out.
One of the deadliest calibers for it's size I think. And did I mention accurate......

Yip,if youve had a Sako 222 and sold it, the universe isnt aligned till you get another one. Thats my experience

That is so cool

I'm running a ruger mk2 in a paddle stock shooting 40g sierra blitz over 21.5grns 2207. Absolutly deadly on rabbits out to 400m

I bought my first Sako 222 about two years ago and it has become one of my favorite coyote rifles, 52gr Speer FB HP over Benchmark.

Ooh! full stock thats pretty

AWS... more photos on the rifle please... sexy little rifle!

This is with the original Leupold 2-7 Compact on it. I tried the 1-4 scope shown but the ocular housing is larger on the 1-4 and I had to go to higher rings and then build up the comb with a pad under the butt bag. I've gone back to the 2-7 and lower rings.